1 Movie
W.E.B. Du Bois. PBS
1 June 2026, with Dr. Connie Luther.
1 Movie
W.E.B. Du Bois. PBS
1 June 2026, with Dr. Connie Luther.
My favorite example is in the 1996 thriller The Rock, starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage. [SPOILER ALERT!] The plot involves evil terrorists who have taken over the former prison of Alcatraz and are threatening to obliterate the San Francisco Bay Area with missile-launched chemical weapons. The only solution (obviously) is to get the man who escaped from Alcatraz in 1963, John Mason, a British national played by Connery, who has been languishing in solitary confinement in an undisclosed ultra-security prison for the past 33 years. Without his three-decades-old, first-hand knowledge, the FBI, CIA and whoever else, will never be able to infiltrate their target.
There is a fair bit of plot, but in the key scene, Mason is leading them through the basement of the prison when they come to an obstacle. On the right is a locked door. On the left, a weird machine described by Movies & TV Stack Exchange as a “precarious blast furnace/incinerator tunnel.” Picture large cogs that shoot out fire as they turn. Mason turns to the others and says "I memorized the timing. I just hope it hasn't been changed." Then the 66-year-old launches himself, rolling through on his side, disappearing into the churning flames. For a poignant moment, his companions think has died, but the door swings open and he beckons them in.
This leaves the viewer with three big questions: 1) Why is this blast furnace/incinerator still operating 30 years after the prison shut down? 2) Don’t the FBI and CIA have ways to open locked doors? and finally, 3) When Connery was escaping 30 years before, why did he bother memorizing the timing and risk his life rolling through flames? Why didn’t he just open the door?
10 Movies
The Sting. 1973, Starring
Hollywood Suite, 3 May 2026. Soundtrack: "
Anachronisms:
(at around 1h 50 mins) When the briefcase containing $100 bills is opened in extreme closeup, the bills have "modern, small-size" green Federal Reserve seals that are wrong for the 1930s. In that era the green seals would be much larger, and a very light green in color. In fact the bills are Series 1969B, as can be identified by the signatures of the Treasurer (Dorothy Andrews Kabis) and the Secretary of the Treasury (John B. Connally).
(at around 1h 22 mins) At the end of the Snyder-Hooker chase, as Hooker is running down the sidewalk, a red stop sign can be seen in the distance. Red stop signs did not appear until 1954. Prior to that time, stop signs were yellow.
(at around 1h 55 mins) The phone on Polk's desk is appropriate for the time, but it rings like a phone from the 1960s or later.
The white over green bus seen in many shots is a 1959 Isuzu BA 741. This same bus can be seen in Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), Strange Bedfellows (1965), Night Gallery (1969), The Munsters (1964), and many others. It was used on the Universal lot for a long time.
(at around 1h 21 mins) 1950s-era aluminum tube storefront windows are visible when Snyder chases Hooker towards the 'L' station after catching him in the phone booth.
In most every scene in the diner, ketchup bottles can be seen with "lug" type caps that were not invented until the late 1960s.
There is a billboard for Ezra Brooks brand bourbon. Ezra Brooks was not made and sold until 1957.
(at around 48 mins) The deck of cards Henry uses when showing Johnny his shuffling ability are the 1970s-style Bicycle brand cards that would not have been available in the 1930s
(at around 1h 22 mins) The 43rd Street 'L' platform shows "A" and "B" stops, not introduced until WWII, and employs the Helvetica typeface, designed in 1957.
(at around 1h 21 mins) While Snyder is chasing Hooker and he makes the left under the El, there is a modern, red box truck (or emergency vehicle) to the right of the tracks. Also, the front end of a modern vehicle can be seen very briefly on the right side of the tracks, parked just ahead of the red box truck.
Most tall office buildings in night scenes are almost entirely illuminated within by fluorescent lights. This film is set in 1936. Fluorescent tube lights were invented in 1934, but were not widely sold commercially until 1938.
(at around 46 mins) The scene transition shown when the card games on the train take place shows a Pennsylvania Railroad Q1 Class streamlined locomotive. The movie action is supposed to take place in 1936. The Q1 class locomotives weren't introduced until 1943.
(at around 24 mins) There's a double yellow line in the street outside the merry-go-round, just after Hooker arrives in Chicago.
Southland Tales. 2006, Starring
Wood Harris appears as Neo-Marxist activist Dion Element. Zelda Rubinstein, Beth Grant and Curtis Armstrong portray Dr. Katarina Kuntzler, Dr. Inga Von Westphalen and Dr. Soberin Exx, respectively, all being members of the baron's entourage. Will Sasso plays Fortunio Balducci, while Janeane Garofalo appears as General Teena MacArthur, whose scenes only appear in the Cannes Cut.[18][19] Eli Roth cameos as a man who is shot by US-IDENT while on the toilet.
Hollywood Suite, 4 May 2026. Soundtrack: "
The Housemaid. 2025, Starring
Crave, 5 May 2026. Soundtrack: "
Patton. 1970, Starring
Hollywood Suite, 6 May 2026, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "
Anachronisms:
Patton is shown having read a book, "The Tank in Attack", by his adversary, Erwin Rommel. The book "Panzer greift an" was however never finished by Rommel. Most of what was to be in "The Tank in Attack" can be found in the book "The Rommel Papers", which is made from notes and diary entries by Field Marshal Rommel during the Africa campaign.
The tanks used in the major battle scene in North Africa are post-war tanks. On the German side the M48 tank (1953) was used and on the American side the M41 Walker Bulldog (1953), M46 Patton (1949) and (mostly) M47 Patton tanks (1952). The M46, M47 and M48 were all named "Patton" in recognition of his mastery of tank warfare.
Some of the U.S. vehicles in the North Africa and Sicily scenes are shown with the insignia of a white star within a circle. The circle was not added until just before the invasion of mainland Italy in September 1943.
Germany is already divided to East and West Germany in the map of Europe seen in the headquarters, and all other national borders are post WWII.
This movie makes use of the real WWII Jeeps - the MB, GPW; manufactured by Willys & Ford from 1941 - 1945 as well as the first civilian Jeep vehicle, the CJ-2A produced in 1945. The CJ came with a tailgate, side-mounted spare tire, larger headlights, an external fuel cap and many more items that its military predecessors did not include. This "goof" is common in WWII movies.
When General Smith meets with General Patton in London, Smith is wearing what is supposed to be the S.H.A.E.F. (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces) shoulder patch. He is in fact wearing the US Army Europe patch which came out after WWII and is almost exactly the same in design, except the background of the S.H.A.E.F. patch is black and the U.S. Army Europe patch has a blue background.
A Cadillac M37 self propelled gun is shown in use in North Africa. The M37 did not see service until the Korean War.
One of the planes seen in the film is a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog, which first flew in 1950.
An M44 155mm self propelled howitzer is passed by Patton's staff car in France at one point. The M44, based on the M41 Walker Bulldog, did not enter production until 1953
1948 Packard Custom Eight in front of headquarters.
Numerous M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks are used throughout the film, standing in for both M4 Shermans and M24 Chaffee light tanks (entered service in 1944). The M41 Walker Bulldog, named after General Walton Walker - killed in a Jeep accident in Korea, 1950 - entered production in 1951, and first saw service in 1953, seeing limited service in Korea and fully replacing the M24 Chaffee shortly afterwards.
In the Moroccan Parade scene, the submachine guns carried by the soldiers are MAT-49s, adopted by the French Army in 1950.
General Bradley's command center is towed by a 1964 Mack B-61.
At 2:08:46 in the movie, during the congestion at a crossroads there is a close up of the chaos. A soldier with rolled up sleeves can be seen standing on the hood and fender of a Command Car number 378(?)554 holding what appears to be an M14 Rifle. This weapon is a modified M1 Garand, and is visibly similar to the M1 Carbine used in WWII except that it is bulkier, the sling is attached to the bottom of the butt with a swivel, and the magazine is larger than that of the M1 Carbine due to the longer ammunition it uses. The M14 came into use in the 1957, and not during WWII.
When Bradley and staff review the wreckage of the Battle of Kasserine Pass at the start of the film, they are shown wearing the "AF" shoulder patch of Allied Forces Headquarters. This patch was not issued until mid-1943. The battle took place in February 1943.
During the tank battle with Rommel, two of the long distance shots of the German tanks (taken from Patton's perspective) show a tall broadcast tower in the distance.
Patton and members of his staff are shown wearing Bronze Star Medals at the award ceremony in Morocco in 1943. While the Bronze Star was retroactively awarded back to 1941, it was only first authorized in 1944.
The opening speech is supposed to be George S. Patton's famous speech(es) to the 3rd Army prior to D-Day (6/6/44); he is wearing 4 stars, but was not promoted to a 4 star general until April 14, 1945.
When the British drive through Algiers, a VW Type 2 van can be seen in the background. The Type 2 started production in 1950. Later, when Patton speeches in Knutsford, a red 1960's truck (lorry) drives by in the background.
When the locals celebrate the US Army taking Palermo many of the crowd extras are wearing modern (1960s) clothes and hairstyles.
Sunshine. 2007 (British), Starring
Hollywood Suite, 7 May 2026. Soundtrack: "
It Ends With Us. 2024, Starring
Crave, 9 May 2026. Soundtrack: "
12 Monkeys. 1995, Starring
Hollywood Suite, 13 May 2026, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "
Trivia:
The film takes place in 1917, 1990, 1996 and 2035.
David Morse also plays Bruce Willis' nemesis in 16 Blocks (2006).
Anachronism:
In one scene at the psychiatric hospital in 1990, one of the guards is reading a newspaper from the Weekly World News, a tabloid which published mostly fictional "news" stories in the United States from 1979 to 2007, known for its outlandish cover stories often based on supernatural or paranormal themes. The copy the guard is reading includes the character "Bat Boy", who made his first appearance in the tabloid in 1992.
Jumper. 2008, Starring
Hollywood Suite, 15 May 2026. Soundtrack: "
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart. 2020 (HBO), Starring
HBO, 24 May 2026, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "
Aspire
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (titled The Mandalorian and Grogu on-screen). 2026, Starring
Additionally, Steve Blum reprises his role from previous Star Wars media as the voice of New Republic pilot Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, while the Kyuzo bounty hunter Embo appears in a non-speaking role.[15] Other returning Star Wars characters include members of the Anzellan species, all voiced by Shirley Henderson, and Jabba the Hutt's twin cousins, voiced by unspecified actors.[15] Stephen McKinley Henderson provides the voice of fisherman Gatori,[citation needed] while Hemky Madera portrays Empire Commander Barro,[19] and Matthew Willig portrays Coin's henchman Hogsbreth.[15]
Briefly appearing in the film as New Republic X-Wing pilots are the film's co-writer Dave Filoni and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Trapper Wolf and Carson Teva, both reprising their roles from previous Star Wars media,[20] alongside The Mandalorian series directors Deborah Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, and Lee Isaac Chung as Sash Ketter, Jib Dodger, and Dok Suri, respectively. Lucasfilm's Vice President and Creative Director and the film's production designer Doug Chiang appears as New Republic member Lieutenant Blick.[21] Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO in previous Star Wars films, has a voice cameo as an air traffic control droid.
Cineplex Chinook Theatre, 23 May 2026, with Dr. Paul Johnston, Dr. Mirjam Knapik and Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: Composer - Ludwig Goransson.